................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... AG WEEK BEGINS WEDNESDAY Ag Week runs from Wednesday, Oct. 15, to Oct. 21 with several activities around campus sponsored by the Ag and Life Sciences Student Council. Ag Week T-shirts are available for purchase at any meal event for $10 and qualify for meal discounts. The schedule includes: Wednesday- Faculty and staff breakfast, 7 to 9 a.m., Curtiss Hall rotunda Kickoff barbecue, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in front of Curtiss ($1 with an Ag Week T-shirt or $3 without) Pre-vet Club chili cook-off, 5 p.m., Kildee Pavilion Dairy Science Halloween dance, 7 p.m. to midnight, The Zone ($5) Thursday- College against cancer meal (supported by Agronomy Club), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in front of Curtiss ($3) Friday- Ag and Life Sciences Student Council taco feed, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in front of Curtiss ($2) Oct. 20- PSA Trail Mix, noon to 1 p.m., in front of Curtiss Block and Bridle “Meat your Future,” 6 to 9 p.m., Kildee Pavilion Ag Business and Alpha Zeta Roundtable, 6 p.m., Carver Hall Room 1 Oct. 21- Ag Career Day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Memorial Union NONNECKE PART OF WOMEN IMPACTING ISU CALENDAR Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, has been chosen to be part of the third annual "Women Impacting ISU" calendar. The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics honors 12 faculty, staff and students based on their achievements in administration, teaching, research, service and various other campus activities. More than 1,000 copies of the 2009 calendar will be distributed free after an official unveiling and recognition reception on Dec. 5. More: http://www.las.iastate.edu/newnews/cattcalendar2008.shtml AG ENTREPRENEURS TO SPEAK AT ROUNDTABLE OCT. 29 The Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative will host an Ag Entrepreneurs Roundtable for College students Oct. 29. It will bring together agricultural entrepreneurs for a series of rotating roundtable discussions in an informal setting. The event will be held at the Scheman Building. A buffet dinner will be served at 6 p.m. with the program to follow. Registration is free to students by contacting Stacey Noe at 4-4945 or snoe@iastate.edu. KIRSCHENMANN EARNS ENVIRONMENTAL RECOGNITION Frederick Kirschenmann was named one of Plenty magazine's second recognition of 20 individuals who are bettering the planet. Al Gore and agricultural economist Lester Brown also made the list. Twenty green companies 10 innovative environmental ideas are part of the Plenty 20. More: http://www.plentymag.com/magazine/the_plenty_20_1.php COLLEGE PRESENTED AWARD FOR FAMILY WEEKEND RECEPTION The College's Family Weekend reception was awarded the event committee's traveling plaque. It was awarded based on the large number of students attending, the informative program, several staff, faculty and ambassadors participating and decorations “with the utmost cyclone spirit.” The College Student Services office organized the reception. WINTERSTEEN TO LEAD HUMAN SCIENCES DEAN SEARCH Dean Wendy Wintersteen will chair the committee in charge of the search for a dean for the College of Human Sciences. Pamela White, university professor of food science and human nutrition, is serving as interim dean of the college. The search committee will begin meeting in late October. A new dean is expected to be in place by July 1, 2009. Other search committee representatives from the College include: Ruth MacDonald, professor and chair, food science and human nutrition. More: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/oct/chssearch.shtml KANWAR TO ADDRESS YOUTH SYMPOSIUM ON UNITED NATIONS Ramesh Kanwar, agricultural and biosystems engineering, will participate in a Iowa Youth Symposium on the United Nations Oct. 21 on the United Nation's position on Clean Water Availability. The event will include a roundtable discussion with approximately 40 high school students from 2:45 to 4 p.m. at the Capitol Building in Des Moines. The symposium is sponsored by the Iowa United Nations Association. TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL SOIL JUDGING CONTEST HOSTED BY ISU The Diamond Trail FFA Chapter at Monroe beat 26 other high school teams to win the 2008 FFA State Soil Judging Contest Oct. 11. This year's event marked the 27th year the soil judging contest was hosted by Iowa State. The second through fifth place teams were: Clarinda, Montezuma, Manson, and Orient. The top five teams are eligible to represent Iowa at the International Land Judging Contest next May in Oklahoma. The contest was coordinated by Gerald Miller, associate dean for extension and outreach programs, and Alan Spencer, Iowa Department of Education. Iowa State faculty and staff who helped with the contest included Tom Fenton, Erik Christian, Angela Rieck-Hinz, Brad Miller and Brent Pringnitz, agronomy, and Richard Pope, entomology. Matthew Streeter, a member of the ISU Collegiate Soil Judging Team assisted with the contest. Sponsors included the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, the Professional Soil Classifiers of Iowa, the Iowa FFA Foundation, the Iowa Department of Education, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the agronomy department, the College and ISU Extension. IOWA STATE'S ODOR RESEARCH FEATURED IN NATURE A feature in Nature magazine's October issue examines the livestock odor work of Jacek Koziel, agricultural and biosystems engineering. Koziel, who is on faculty improvement leave at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, describes himself as a "smelling weirdo" in the article. More: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081008/full/455726a.html RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING WIRELESS SOIL SENSORS Researchers in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering are among those developing wireless soil sensors that could one day help farmers maximize their production while minimizing environmental impacts. Learn more: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/oct/sensors.shtml CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS IOWA RESEARCH ON HYPOXIA IN THE GULF A conference on the issue of Gulf of Mexico hypoxia and the latest research on water quality conservation and monitoring in Iowa is set for Oct. 16 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. It is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and features researchers from several departments and centers at Iowa State. Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=682 NEW AG MECHANICS FACILITY GIVES FUTURE AG TEACHERS EXPERIENCE A new agricultural mechanics facility at Iowa State is helping meet the needs of students in agricultural education and studies and Iowa high school agriculture teachers. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=685 REDUCED RATE TO JOIN NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGES AND TEACHERS OF AGRICULTURE The College is an institutional member of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture which allows individuals to join at a reduced rate. More: http://www.nactateachers.org/ SEED SCIENCE CENTER ADDITION DEDICATION OCT. 14 A dedication ceremony for the addition to the Seed Science Building will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14. The expansion will provide 5,000-square-foot of space for the Seed Science Center and Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products (BIGMAP) faculty and research. Keynote speaker at the ceremony will be Namanga Ngongi, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. A luncheon and open house will follow the program. FOOD SCIENTIST SCHEDULED TO SPEAK OCT. 14 Richard Hall, past president of the International Union of Food Science and Technology and a past president of the Institute of Food Technologists, will present a lecture Tuesday, Oct. 14, titled: “Food and Health: The Continuing Search for Connections.” It will begin at 4 p.m. in the Campanile Room of Memorial Union. Prior to the lecture, Hall will have a conversation at 2:30 p.m. in 1951 Food Sciences Building. The lecture event made possible by the University Lectures Program and is co-sponsored by the College of Human Sciences, food science and human nutrition department and the Committee on Lectures. RECEPTION FOR TONY POMETTO SET FOR OCT. 23 A reception for Tony Pometto Oct. 23 will recognize his 21 years at Iowa State and his new position of professor and chair for the food science and human nutrition department at Clemson University. The reception will be from 3:30 - 5 p.m. in the hallway outside 1041 Food Sciences Building. A short, informal program will take place at 4 p.m. Pometto was the director of NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center, associate director of the Institute for Food Safety and Security and professor-in-charge of the fermentation facilities. He will remain a collaborator with the food science and human nutrition department and Iowa State. This event is hosted by the department and Center for Crops Utilization Research. RECEPTION OCT. 31 FOR NANCY HOLCOMB IN FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION After 39 years of service to Iowa State, administrative specialist Nancy Holcomb is retiring from the food science and human nutrition department. A reception for her will be Oct. 31 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. A brief program will begin at 2:30 p.m. Holcomb began as a secretary in animal science in 1970 and moved to food science and human nutrition in 1980. ODOR AND NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER ONLINE The fall 2008 issue of “Iowa Manure Matters - Odor and Nutrient Management Newsletter” is available online at http://snipr.com/44m4v. This newsletter is created and disseminated by ISU Extension with financial support from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. You can submit your e-mail address to receive notices when future issues are available. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Oct. 13: 2008 Norman Borlaug Lecture, Sir Gordon Conway, The Global Agricultural Crisis of the 21st Century, 8 p.m., Great Hall, Memorial Union Oct 15-21: Ag Week Oct. 21: Ag Career Day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Memorial Union Oct. 24: ISU Alumni Association awards presentation, 1:30 p.m., Scheman Building, http://www.isualum.org/honorsandawards Nov. 7-8: MANRRS Region V Workshop, campus Nov. 18: College deadline for university award nominations, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/agcoll/awards.php ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... EXPECT EXCEPTIONAL, BUT AVOID EXCEPTIONABLE What is “exceptional” is uncommon, superior, rare or extraordinary, as in "an exceptional talent." What is “exceptionable” is objectionable or offensive, as in "an exceptionable slur." (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003) ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... CELT FACULTY FORUM ON GRADING ON A CURVE This faculty forum will include a faculty discussion of grading on a curve and the state of research on this topic. It will be Oct. 29 from 12:10-1:30 p.m. in the Oak Room, Memorial Union. Register through AccessPlus. Contact: 4-5357 or celt@iastate.edu ................................................... INTERNAL VOICES ................................................... BAUM ON THE PROMISE OF GENE SILENCING TO FIGHT SCN "The beauty is we know what some of these proteins are doing and are now able to apply the knowledge to make plants more resistant. We're able to make educated guesses at how to kill the worm … . Gene silencing appears promising. We know which genes to target; we target the genes that secrete specific essential proteins into the plant." --Thomas Baum, chair and professor of plant pathology, quoted in the October 2008 issue of the USB Issues newsletter, a monthly report of the United Soybean Board on issues affecting the soybean checkoff. Baum and collaborators at other universities form the USB-funded SCN Parasitism Gene Group that is studying the mechanism the soybean cyst nematode uses to infect and establish a feeding site in the soybean root. The USB Newsletter (#52, Soybean Cyst Nematode) can be found at: http://www.unitedsoybean.org/Library/RecentLibraryItems.aspx?category=1&.... ........................................................ AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE ........................................................ EDITOR Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/ SUBSCRIBE Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe." Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.